The Proton R3 Malaysia Rally Team is back in town for the first leg of the 2010 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), which will be held in Johor this coming weekend (24-25 April). Drivers Alister McRae and Chris Atkinson gave us short taxi rides around Sepang International Circuit’s grounds, which was fun, but not as thrilling as this writer’s first rally car experience, which you can read here.
Atkinson, 30, may be new to the Proton team, but he’s no rally rookie. The Australian competed in the APRC before joining the Subaru works team in the WRC. With him onboard to partner Alister McRae, Proton is aiming for nothing less than the APRC crown with the “best drivers and the best team”, a task made easier by the withdrawal of Motor Image Racing Team and its star driver Cody Crocker, after winning the Manufacturers’ and Driver’s title again last year. Both Proton R3 drivers will have to battle with one Karamjit Singh this weekend, though.
What about the Intercontinental Rally Championship? Proton R3’s main focus this year is the APRC, which it has commited to for the whole season. In between APRC races, the team will compete in selected IRC events such as the Sardinia Rally (Italy), Ypres Rally (Belgium) and the Czech Rally. The focus on APRC is understandable, as it gives good visibility for the Proton brand in more important export markets, but Chris Mellors, boss of Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM) the company who designed the Neo S2000, said that “IRC gives a good yardstick on how we’re performing” referring to the level of competition there. Mellors also said that the Super 2000 platform is the way forward, and hinted at a possible WRC entry in the future.
Since the last time we sat in it, the Satria Neo S2000 has gone through some improvements. The 278 bhp normally aspirated 2.0-litre engine now sports bigger valves, different camshafts and a stronger sump. Also slightly changed are the gear ratios for the Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox, damper and steering settings and suspension points.
A huge gallery of the media event is after the jump.
[zenphotopress number=999 album=1057]
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first.. and good luck for the APRC
hoho.. i like..
nice good job r3
1st
Future concourer
what happen to karamjit singh?
He driving a Subaru.. i think.
Why no 1 wants to sponsor him?
ya la…y not take karamjit? the matsalleh drivers on S2000 is as old as karamjit i presume…fucker malaysians!!! Always praise those outsiders
Superb..
Chris Atkinson IMO performed better during his last WRC days with Subaru compared to Petter Solberg. I hope he could perform well with Proton R3 team. Alongside Alister McRae… yeah Go Proton R3!!!
Gotta find the links to dload this.. :p
i always wonder why the side mirror at the middle of the door..anyone knows?
the driver is sitting wayyyyy back compare to the normal car
coz they sit further back in the rally car than they would in the normal road car.
atkinson and alister…
2big name in rally….
proton…u don’t have any excuses anymore now….
bring the best out of this car…
wonder why subaru not in the aprc. are they going to irc or not into rally anymore?
proton can make money by making replica of this car for sure…
just like satria neo lotus edition
is it legal for a normal vehicle to have a roll cage
no, the fire department will be having a lot of trouble cutting the cage in case of accident
of course its legal, just roll cage..
is just like anti roll bar or stabilizer bar
but will you have one?
because it will eat away car space (remove back seat or etc)
NO! It’s illegal.
A role cage need to drill and bolt (or weld) into car CASIS.
and you can’t touch a car casis without JPJ approval (which is impossible btw).
nice car.. waiting their result in aprc.. beat up those turbos.. go proton..
All the best and do us proud!
why no video ?? sad leh :P
want to see proton will be a champion…
I want that engine please…
wish OTR neo would have this bodykit…
I thought they were in WRC already last time?
This car uses a 2.0 liter engine unit right? Proton’s own or Mitsubishi’s?
The Neo S2000’s 2.0-litre engine is a modified version of the Renault engine from the Waja 1.8
y cnt use campro? asshole malaysians
weh2..relaxla brader.
Because Campro cannot be bored to 2000 cc?
Attack n win the APRC 1st, then aim the WRC as next year will be based on s2000 rules. Then Proton should do good!
good luck.
Well.. no more turbo until 2013… *sob
It is sad that all the fuss is made about this new team. They might just blitz every other competitor out there with the car spec and driver line up and the experience of the team[most for PERT].
Till today i do not know why Mr.Karam has not been helped by the big players in terms of sponsorship. He has to strugle to take his team to every race. HE IS THE BEST RALLY DRIVER WE HAVE and nobody cares??..He has won like 11 championships if im not mistaken n not even a datukship. The guy wins a few badminton titles get 1, sail around d world get 1, even a person who has nothin to do wif msia gets 1[SRK]. But y not the the person who has been the main flag bearer in the rally scene for sooo long. Its not like he is not good enough to race abroad he just never had the funds to do do at his prime. It is really sad in having the talent he has and very few of the big players back him up in terms of sponsorship. IF i could I would not allow such an important national asset to go to waste. No disrespect to the other rally drivers out there personally i feel he was the best we had and nothing really was done to fulfill his talent .
here here…. i second you mister!!!
very true.
dont you think that ‘all’ the wrongs that happened in malaysia is the gov fault?
including when someone cant even afford a nice girlfriend or boyfriend?
Damn !
U got that rite !
did i mention d gov is at fault??…i said recognition has to be given wer it is due by the people who should be recognizing it!!
steven got point there
Sir,
Maybe that is what u thk, but what about others that really know his performance? Example : a tecnician can see that his fren, also a technician is good in work, but the one who truly sees him is his superior.
he was d best in Msia was he not??…was ter any1 better at his prime=NO!!…now obviosly he is not as good at he was…many out there a closing d gap n even better now….wat i meant was wen he was the best did the people wif the power to make a diference help him no.
Karamjit old already, he not that fast and fit anymore. (but i do sure he can beat me anytime in driving / race :D ) . He just should stop, sit down, open a race school or motorsports rally company. Train local talent bla bla bla.
But yes.. i think he should get a Dato’ title. He deserved that, for all those thing he have done before.
maybe he is not good in PR…
Alister “McRae” maybe son of Collin McRae… Chris “Atkinson” son of Rowan “Atkinson”…? hehe. just a lil’ joke. btw, they r feymes enuff in rally area…juz see how they tame da neo…
hahahah….funny2!!
alistair is brother to the late colin mcrae…..not son.
yup correct, the youngest brother of collin mcrae, and also his (both) father is Jimmy Mcrae , a rally champion too. ‘Mcrae’ is family name.
late?
is he dead?
affirmative.
u were too busy bashing here n there.. :)
yes, while u were too busy bashing here n there.. :)
http://protonmotorsports.wordpress.com/
wahhh hope proton will produce this car for production..same horsepower 280hp, but of coz la commercial version…than if put RM115k people also not “bising-bising”….
Syabas Proton !!!!!
ARIS ANNUAR (interim D………… buat-buat sibuk lagi ke???
Dengar cite interested nak ikut Dato’ KD ke NASIM, betul ke ?
Apa tunggu lagi…… cabut le kalau dah tak larat keje…….
Terror lah lu proton………..
nie sumer buang duit je! lu org bayangkanla satu kete je arge 1.2 juta! tu baru arge kete ! belum masuk running cost lgi! da la crew bnyk mat saleh! rugi3! kemane peginye org malaysia? ape nie proton?
Karam had drivien this car in last year aprc in johor, but do to some problems he opt not to continue his career with the proton s2000 car. Thats y u see proton empoying mat salleh cause they talk less and drive more :p
Do u noe the exact nature of the problems that he faced duruin the test??.. i do from 1st hand knowledge…1] they were nvr reli wanted to ofer him the drive nway, 2] car is left hand drive,3] your two favorite mat salleh have strong sponsorhip, mr.karam hardly nytin[to race u need money n they offered more so no complains there]….n a few mre other reason that i canot mention here…..it is also because that he is not the best driver nymore, at 48 he’s abit old for it…im not sayin he cant compete, just that he has lost that extra second or two he had before…
and ya in his evo 8 he is still whooping alot of the faster cars out there!!!!
The next Subaru. Hope Proton wins. Should sell a road version yellow in colour at about RM60,000 – RM70,000 (IAFM or CPS or IAFM R3 or CPS R3)
kereta kebangsaan malaysia,… tapi kenapa tak gunakan pemandu dari malaysia????
to shark: Do you ever learn the biz purpose…sure dont!
1.2mill is no a waste. The brand name establish, customer self esteem growth, and one more thing, do you want proton just being drive in your kampung and expected people will buy it just because your car is juara kampung…lu pk la brade